Mudragada to join YSR Congress on March 14 in YS Jagan’s presence

RAJAHMUNDRY: Former minister and senior leader Mudragada Padmanabham has announced that he will be joining the YSR Congress, unconditionally.

Addressing media at his Kirlampudi residence on Sunday, Padmanabham announced that he decided to join the YSR Congress following a call from Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy.

He would join the party along with his son Giri.

He said that he was invited into the party by MPs Midhun Reddy and Vanga Geeta, and Kakinada MLA Dwarampudi Chandrasekhara Reddy to join the party.

He told the Chief Minister that he was not laying any conditions to join the party. His decision was intended at serving the people and take the welfare programmes of Jagan more effectively into the people and also he would work for more welfare schemes for the poor.

Asked if he would be contesting against Pawan Kalyan from Kakinada Lok Sabha Constituency, he said he had not asked for tickets either for himself or for his son. “I told the Chief Minister that he could do something after coming back to power. By God’s grace, Jagan will be reelected as the Chief Minister and if he offers anything to me after that, I will consider. For now, I am service oriented and I am not aspiring for any position.”

He fixed March 14 as the muhurtham for going to meet Jagan. He start his rally between 7 am and 9 am on March 14 and join the party between 4 pm and 6 pm in the presence of the Chief Minister. For now, the joining would be at Tadepalli. However, the venue would be decided by the Chief Minister.

Padmanabham is a senior leader and a champion of the cause of Kapu caste which has a large vote share in Andhra Pradesh.

He was first elected to the Assembly in 1978 from Prathipadu Assembly constituency on Janata Party ticket. He joined the Telugu Desam Party in 1982 and won the 1983 Assembly elections.

He was an MLA from 1978 to 1994. He had served as a minister in the N T Rama Rao Cabinet. He resigned the TDP in 1988 and launched Kapunadu agitation. He won on the Congress ticket in 1989. He had hosted a reception to Rajiv Gandhi at his residence in Kirlampudi in 1988.

He lost the 1994 Assmebly elections and he had never contested from Prathipadu again. He also had a brush with the BJP. He was elected to the Lok Sabha from Kakinada in 1999 on behalf of the TDP up to 2004. He had contested 2009 Assembly elections from Pithapuram and secured third place.

He had lost 2014 elections as an independent.

He remained as a Kapu leader and played a pivotal role in the agitations for Kapu reservation.

Mudragada’s joining is expected to add fillip to the YSR Congress in East and West Godavari districts where he had considerable influence among Kapu voters.